I Promised I'd Come Back
by RiddleMeThis17
Summary: It's been three hundred years since her grandfather left her on Earth. Susan Foreman has not been coping well. Her grandfather returns on her doorstep with a new companion, but Susan will need more of an explanation for the long wait.


"Goodbye Susan," her grandfather said, his voice echoing around the torn up and desolate building-side. "Goodbye, my dear."

She looked at the magnificent blue box through glassy eyes. It was her home, and it faded away with the ever so familiar wheezing sound. She reached out to touch it as it disappeared, her hand hitting air as the time machine left with a quieting screech.

She stared at the spot the time capsule had occupied. An indent remained on the ground, a large square squashing down the mud and grass. She gripped her key tight in her hands. Did she dare?

She held back tears, falling to the ground, fingers clawing at the dirt and dying grass. She never wanted to be left behind. She was supposed to stay with her grandfather for as long as they lived. She was supposed to take care of him as he had protected her. She barely felt David's hand on her shoulder. She did always want a stable home, one where she could make long-lasting friends. Coal Hill had been such the possibility. She had made friends, she had learned of the odd cultures of the humans of Sol Three. She had been free for just a moment from the static and formal life of a Gallifreyan.

She dug a hole, her salty tears darkening the ground as she placed the key she was meant to guard with her life into the mud. With shuddering hands, she buried the remnant of her past.

And there she was, free again. She stood up, shaking as tears slid down her face. She longed for her grandfather to take her into his arms and hug her and reassure her as he had done so often. She wondered when he'd return. She turned around, slipping her arms around David. Such a human gesture. Time Lords weren't supposed to be dependant on physical attention, they weren't supposed to be dependant on very much at all.

But she stayed there, wrapped around her human lover. He would die, she knew, but she would cherish every moment of it. Waiting for her grandfather would not be easy, but she would not allow Time to flee from her.

She was Susan Foreman, not Arkytior, not Rose, just Susan.

**Break**

It was silent within the small house, as the sole occupant meandered around her dwelling, half-conscious. Dark blonde hair, dripping with water from a recent shower, fell around her shoulders, framing a round face and pale brown eyes. The woman, who must have been barely past the age of legality, carried a small cup of hot chocolate as she made her way to the living room.

The room was relatively empty, minimalistic designs leaving a lot of space to not use. On the wall hung a large, thin television. The woman sat on a monochrome couch, picking up the remote and turning on the television. The new channel sitz-ed to life, a news anchor's voice quickly breaking the silence. The woman sipped at her drink as the anchor went on to describe the completely normal weather they were having.

Susan Foreman felt the hot liquid burn down her throat. She would have lost count of the days she had spent in her home, a home that used to be occupied by many but was now occupied by only one. She stared at the large screen, the weatherman's mouth moving, hands and arms gesturing, but nothing registering to her. Her eyes darted to the small panel that declared the time, date and weather. November 23rd, 2507. It had been over three hundred years since her grandfather left her to the planet. Looking around now, you never would have guessed that it had been wrecked in an alien war. Everything seemed more or less like the eras of Earth she and her grandfather had visited before.

She had gone through a regeneration, a terrible feeling it was. Everything burned as her cells died and were born in fire. She felt as though that was why the voices in her head had stopped whispering incoherently. Four hundred years ago, she had questioned her grandfather and her superiors. They had explained to her how the voices were the thoughts of other Time Lords. She had no certain idea on why they had stopped murmuring to her. They had never bothered her, but the absolute silence was unnerving. She had felt as though a part of her had died, the part of her that was still Gallifreyan.

The humans had rebuilt themselves, as usual. Not very much differed there. They always survived, they would be one of the few races left by the end of this universe, or at least near the end of the universe. She held back her tears at the thought of her family, her planet. No one had come for her, not even her grandfather. After so many years, she thought he might have dropped by for a visit, but he did not.

Susan, oddly, did not feel betrayed, more... abandoned. Why wouldn't her grandfather see her? He had a TARDIS, he had his time capsule, he could have visited her the day after he left. Was it the time lines? Susan never was good at temporal theory or engineering.

Lost in her usual musing, Susan closed her eyes, resting the cup of hot chocolate on the table. She delved into her mind, the reporter's voice becoming a buzz in the background. She saw her planet, golden and red in all of its majesty, one of the oldest civilisations of the universe, one of the most powerful.

And she had run away from it, she did not like it there, all cold and formal. It was boring, it was restricting. Her grandfather was noteworthy there, despite his seemingly terrible marks in the Prydonian Academy. Her grandfather loved a joke, purposely failing his exit examinations. She thought it typical of him, although her mother often told her to never follow his footsteps and to be as intelligent as she could be.

It not a surprise then, the outrage they received when she and her grandfather ran away, saved a human's life (Donna, Susan supposed she was called) and came back to an order of arrest and a Burn Edict. She had been terrified then. Terrified and excited, yes, but terrified. While saving Donna's life as her mind burned, a fact that she had still not understood, she felt proud of herself and scared of the consequences. She found her grandfather's fearlessness admirable. And then Great-Uncle Braxiatel came to the rescue, warning them and giving them time to escape.

And thus they stole a Type 40, a lovely, old but new time capsule, and they flew away.

A knock at the door shook Susan from her thoughts, her hot chocolate almost spilling in her surprise. She quickly steadied herself, standing up and making her way to the door. Who could possibly be asking for her? It was... Susan's eyes glanced at the time on the television. It was past three in the morning. Why would anyone be up at this hour?

She looked through the small peep hole of the door, seeing a stranger with a wide grin on his face. Susan frowned. Who was this man? A sense of familiarity crept inside her. She knew this man...

The Gallifreyan cautiously unlocked the door, pulling up open slowly. She poked her head out, realising how little she was wearing, only in a bathrobe.

"Hello?" She asked, glancing down at the man's companion, refusing to look him in the eye. The sense of knowing hit her in the face. She _knew_ this man, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She smiled slightly at the girl accompanying him. A strong sense of unease filled her, her hands starting to shake. She wouldn't look at the man, she wouldn't. It was not possible.

"Susan Foreman," the man breathed, seeming giddy with excitement, jumping on the balls of his feet. Susan still did not meet the man's gaze, noting the Converse and trenchcoat. Wasn't the man hot with all the layers? His companion appeared better dressed, although in clothes that were definitely not commonplace in the century. The blonde smiled lightly, sending the man a confused glance.

"Who are you?" Susan's voice was quiet, barely audible. She hoped that they wouldn't notice her shaking. Her fingers dug into the doorhandle, keeping her eyes away from the man. He was wrong, she knew her and he was wrong.

"I think you know who I am, Susan." The man said, his voice no longer as excited as it had been, now softer and so familiar. She _knew_ who he was, but it just wasn't possible. He wouldn't have waited this long...

She looked up at the man, tears filling her eyes. An undescribable sense of knowing filled her as she looked into her grandfather's eyes. He looked so young, much younger than he had been the last time she saw him. And yet his eyes were old, the only thing that gave away the years held inside the youthful body.

Susan's mind sparked as memories exploded, fire and death and loss and happiness supenovaing, hurting her and healing her and _burning_.

The door slammed shut, Susan screaming and crying as she fell to the floor, her mind a whirl of colour and emotions and impossible things. She did not register the pounding against the door, the strange whirring noise of a sonic device, the door flinging open and warm arms embracing her.

"You promised me!" She shrieked into her grandfather's chest. "Three hundred years!" She tried to push away, her attempts futile and weak. Her body shook violently, tears streaming down her face. "You promised!"

The Doctor didn't know what to do. He hadn't been around another Time Lord in years, he didn't know how strong his memories would be, how badly they would affect someone as inexperienced as Susan. He held her in his arms, on the floor, pressing a kiss against her forehead as she screamed at him.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, his words lost as Susan cried out, "I'm so very sorry, Susan." Susan did not appear to hear his words, her body going limp with exhaustion. "I'm sorry."

Rose seemed so lost, standing to a side, wondering what was happening. The Doctor turned back to Susan, pulling her close.

"They're all gone," Susan choked out, her voice muffled. "They're gone..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor repeated, "I tried, I did."

"Mother, Father... Grand-mother... Braxiatel..." Susan's voice grew quieter, her hands gripping his coat. "You..."

The Doctor tried to calm her. He had never been one for the telepathy all Time Lords possessed. He was not as skilled as the Master was, but he soothed Susan with his memories of Gallifrey, of red grass, a blazing sun, silver leaves and the Citadel.

"I'm sorry," he said again, running a hand through Susan's damp hair. She had been alone long enough to regenerate. The thought pained him. He had planned to return just a day after his first incarnation had left, and go without the tearful reunion, but the TARDIS thought otherwise and landed him here, three hundred years after the Dalek invasion.

The Doctor glanced up to Rose, his other Rose, the one from London who loved to run and was human. He was with his two Roses, one he had when he first left Gallifrey, and the other he met when he made his last visit to his home planet.

"I promised I'd come back," the Doctor said. "I promised."

**I. Don't. Even. Know.**

**I probably made Ten EXTREMELY OOC, I'm sorry, I haven't revisited Ten is a while, since I'm watching the new episodes of Eleven and Clara (as I type this, Nightmare in Silver is about to air in five minutes). Susan is a character I could probably mess up without any major problems, regeneration and all. But I still have a limited sandbox to play in, so I'm trying my best.**

**~RiddleMeThis**


End file.
